


where the rain gets in

by cosmicallybrownie



Category: Satan and Me (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 12:31:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicallybrownie/pseuds/cosmicallybrownie
Summary: It always seems that when it rains, it pours. Natalie carries an umbrella for these types of situations.





	where the rain gets in

Fat raindrops wiped the shine right off of Lucifer's black leather shoes, and he could have sworn at the churning sky. Naturally the bus would be running behind schedule when he had an important meeting.

 

The humidity of the impending storm stuck his collar to his neck, and a drop of rain on his nose had his face pinching. A scowl turned his lips downwards, and the gray morning seemed to leech the color from the city.

 

The oil slick streets could have been a black and white painting as black shoes marched across white crosswalks, their owners a sea of plain umbrellas and suits on their way to work.

 

The rain was coming down in earnest now, washing away stragglers as Lucifer stood still, waiting for a bus that might never show. His tall shoulders did not bow under the Tuesday morning drizzle, and he counted the minutes as they passed, the seconds ticking in time with his heartbeat.

 

A shiver crept down his spine the same moment a floral umbrella was held over him. The black gave way to blooms of color, and rich pinks and reds took over his vision and stole the view of the dark sky away.

 

Lucifer's eyes widened in surprise as he looked down to the small girl holding the umbrella. She seemed to almost glow against the backdrop of gray, and her bright red hair curled around her shoulders like liquid fire.

 

She wore a dress, of all things. Vivid green adorned her frame, the color rivaling her eyes and clashing with the yellow of her rain boots. The momentary solace from the rain breathed warmth back into Lucifer's veins and she smiled up at him.

 

The summer shower muffled the sound of the squeaking tires, and he gently wrapped his cold fingers around her warm wrist to push her back. He followed her onto the bus, and when he stepped off at his office, still soaked, somehow the building looked duller.

 

* * *

 

The sun tipped over the edge of the horizon, disappearing behind a glass building filled with faceless workers, and no one seemed sad to see it go.

 

 The bus stopped slowly in front of a small shop, the teal paint of its front peeling from years of sunburn. Windchimes and plants with long vines creeping over the edges of their terracotta pots hung from hooks in the windows, and bobbed along with the gentle breeze that whispered secrets down the streets of the city. A ripped awning boasted the name of the shop that Lucifer had never seen before, despite taking the same route home for three years.

 

But it wasn’t the store front that caught his attention, rather the yellow rainboots that locked the door and climbed the stairs into the bus.

 

It didn’t surprise him that she stopped by the bus driver for a moment, resting a hand on his shoulder as she dug something out of her bag. The piece of stationary she offered him disappeared into his pocket, and he wore a matching smile by the time the girl finally walked back to take her seat.

 

Her footsteps were clumsy in the inflexible boots, and the smile teasing her lips hadn’t faded by the time she sat down heavily across from him. His fingers pulsed with a reminder of her warm skin against his, and Lucifer turned to watch the streets pass outside the window. Just a glimpse of her brightness out of the corner of his eye seemed like it would burn away the sepia of his world and make way for her.

 

* * *

 

The fresh ink of the morning newspaper bled into the pages and into the skin of Lucifer’s fingers as he waited impatiently for an early bus. His punctuality was his own fault, as he had been so afraid of missing the early stop that he arrived far too early, and now had to watch the sun rise timidly, hiding behind the heavy rainclouds.

 

The paper offered nothing interesting in the way of news, and offered even less as a makeshift umbrella as punishing rain pounded heavily against the Friday horoscopes.

 

The gray shirt he wore adhered to his torso like an additional layer of skin, and his dark hair dripped in front of his eyes. He was drowning standing up, and he gave the bus about two more minutes to show before he called it a day.

 

She arrived before the bus, rubber boots splashing through dirty puddles that smelled like cigarette ash and apathy. The rain swallowed her gasp, and her curved umbrella replaced the newspaper, the ink running gray across the whole of the pages. Lucifer let the sodden bundle slip from his fingertips, and it splashed in the puddle he created, sending a spray of dirty water across their feet where they stood toe to toe.

 

Today she was clothed in purple, and her red curls were pinned up in a frizzy tangle that let a few loose pieces escape to tuck behind her ears. She scorched his skin when she reached up to sweep his soaked hair out of his face.

 

His dark eyes were wild, wide with confusion that parted his lips, then stole the air from his lungs. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to her, but she smiled and he couldn’t breathe all over again.

 

The patterned blue seats of the bus were nearly a throne for the girl and she sat so royally that he felt the ridiculous need to bow his head. Her teeth were the stainless white of someone who didn’t drink coffee, and he wondered how she could hand out smiles so easily, as if there was no value in the way her lips pulled upwards slowly.

 

When she stepped off the bus, heading for the unknown to watercolor wherever she touched, the bus somehow felt colder. He looked over to where she had sat, and her folded umbrella was the only reminder that she had been there at all.

 

* * *

 

The weekend came and went in a blur of sunshine and celebration, but Monday came and restarted the cycle once again. The sky promised sunshine, but Lucifer still stood at the bus stop with an umbrella tucked under his arm.

 

It had sat in the corner of his apartment for the weekend, an unmatched and unmoving spot of color that he wasn’t sure what to do with. He didn’t know the girl’s name or how to find her, so he gripped the wooden handle of the umbrella and waited.

 

The bus arrived before she did, and he was hesitant to board, still searching down the streets for a glimpse of her yellow rainboots and red hair. He sank into the seat where he last saw her, and he tapped his foot impatiently as they passed the little corner shop.

 

A flash of red in the window had him sitting up straighter, but the passing of another bus obscured his view and the shop faded into a blur behind him.

 

The coat rack in the corner of his office had its first ever occupant in the form of an umbrella that stole his attention away every so often. Among the rows and rows of gray, it was the only thing to give him pause as he buzzed from cubicle to cubicle, alight with productivity that the black and navy suits had never seen ooze into the floor.

 

He loosened the red tie he wore, and in his reflection, it almost looked like he had spilled the blood from his throat and painted down his chest with it. He returned to his office and counted the petals on a scarlet flower, watching the clock wind down to five.

 

* * *

 

The bus driver didn’t question Lucifer’s stop, and his white knuckled grip on the umbrella was the only thing keeping him grounded as he twisted the brass doorknob. The building was old, and its wooden floorboards sang with his weight, announcing his presence in the shop.

 

Colorful plants lined every inch of the room and crept up the walls on shelves that looked built to the contours of the building. Pops of pink wallpaper lingered behind the covering of foliage that gave way to blooms and flowers in colors he had never seen before.

 

He thumbed a purple petal gently, tracing the veining of it with his fingernail and marveling at the delicacy of such a small thing that he never knew existed. The creaking floorboards shifted his attention up, and a lightening shock smile greeted him so selflessly that his breath hitched.

 

Red. She wore red that matched his tie and he almost lost his grip on the umbrella before it reminded him of his purpose. A delicate gold chain around her neck made his mouth dry, and he extended his arm, holding the umbrella out as a wordless offer.

 

His heart pounded, echoing her footsteps as she crossed the floor to meet him. Her fingers brushed the inside of his wrist as she took the umbrella back, a grateful smile pulling at one corner of her lips even as she dropped the umbrella behind her. Confusion knit questions in Lucifer’s brow, but Natalie smoothed them away by threading her fingers through his own, her warm palm sending shockwaves through Lucifer’s frozen body.

 

He felt like he was touching summer for the first time, and breaking out of a winter lapse that had defined his sunrises and sunsets for far too long. Lucifer could have breathed in the scent of flowers and weekdays until his time on earth expired, and the girl tightened her grip on his hand, leading him further into her world of bold colors and life.

 

 


End file.
